To Run With the Pack
by Kita the Spaz
Summary: The sequel to Whiskers Round the Moon. It's been several months since Iruka returned the copy-nin to the village, and things are as normal as they're ever going to get. But what if you don't want normal? Don't want the status quo?


**A/N: This one is the direct sequel to "Whiskers Round the Moon," so if you haven't read that one first this one won't make a whole lot of sense to you! This was written for the lovely Darkauran for her birthday (a while ago). Don't expect too many other stories in this particular Naruto-verse though. I love them when they are done, but I hate writing them. These stories gave me fits and damn near got deleted any number of times. Thankfully I have the wonderful Micah_n10 as Beta and sounding board and she helped me finish these two stories!**

* * *

Kakashi was a wire-thin bundle of nerves; all tension and anticipation. Iruka watched as the copy-nin loped ahead of him toward the grove that was their destination. The pack, sans their normal gear, trotted around him, tension rippling off of them in waves. Buru's stubby tail was going at full speed and Uuhei shivered from head to foot. Kakashi slowed to a stop and glanced back over his shoulder at Iruka. His visible eye was pale and full of impatience.

Iruka dredged up a smile from somewhere even as his bruised face ached. He had never begrudged this task, but right now, he really wanted to be back home and curled up in bed; sleeping off that last dismal mission that had gone all to hell. He'd barely made it back to Konoha within the time limit he had imposed on himself.

To anyone not trained to notice it, the spot Kakashi had stopped at looked no different from any other area of the forest. Iruka joined Kakashi and went clumsily down on one knee. His injured leg screamed a protest and he paused to catch his breath. Uuhei nudged him with a concerned whine. He managed a smile for her and scratched briefly behind her ears before pressing his hand to a gray stone half-buried in the loamy earth.

The seal embedded in the heart of the stone—designed by Ibiki, Shizune and Tsunade—flashed briefly. It was keyed to four people and their chakra signatures only. Kakashi, Iruka, Tsunade and Ibiki.

Iruka pushed a bit of chakra into the seal and the air around him shimmered as the self-sustaining illusion dropped to reveal a part of the forest that was blocked off from the rest by as many layers of deadly and disabling traps as Iruka and Ibiki could devise.

Kakashi shivered beside him and Iruka glanced up at the darkening sky. The palest edge of silver light was touching the horizon. Moonrise wasn't long in coming.

"Go on," Iruka told him wearily. "I'll activate the seal behind you."

Kakashi managed to suppress his instincts long enough to look down at the kneeling chuunin, concern darkening his uncovered eye. "Iruka…"

Iruka managed a half-hearted smile. "Go."

Kakashi nodded and loped past him. The pack followed, Guruko and Akino pausing, like Uuhei, to give him worried nudges. Iruka patted them all briefly and called out to Kakashi. "Remember to strip this time, unless of course, you enjoy running back to your apartment in the buff…"

Kakashi chuckled. "Yes, mother."

Iruka huffed in amused aggravation and watched the pack crowd close to Kakashi. He remembered their warmth crowding around him once upon a time and suppressed a surge of nostalgic longing. Kakashi was stripping quickly, shedding everything to lie in untidy heaps on the grass. Iruka admired the lean, pale form briefly before the moonlight limned it and it began to… change.

Kakashi's shoulders hunched, rolling forward as his silver-gray hair crept down shoulders and back in a rising tide. His limbs shifted, joints popping and stretching as they moved into new configurations. Kakashi dropped to all fours and shook himself. A plume of a silver tail was the last change to appear; uncoiling from the base of his spine as he stretched like a cat.

The pack shifted around him, Pakkun suddenly gaining two feet in height as he became a brindled brown wolf. Buru lost some of his mass but retained most of his size as he became and enormous black wolf. Uuhei shook herself as her red fur fluffed out into a new shape and her muzzle lengthened and narrowed.

Kakashi tipped his head back and howled a joyous greeting to the full moon, the rest of the pack joining in his delighted cries. And then they were off, running easily under the blue-white light of the moon.

Iruka shook himself out of the daze he had fallen into. He evaluated his condition and decided that he didn't have the necessary energy to make it back to Konoha. He knew that he'd be safe enough there in the protected territory of the pack. He activated the seal and stepped inside the barrier as the illusion shimmered back to life. Ibiki had explained it as a certain self-sustaining form of genjutsu, but Iruka simply called it an illusion that hid this small section of forest from prying eyes. Inside the barrier, things looked slightly watery, wavering slightly, to denote the edges of the protected area.

Sighing, he listened to the pack's joyous howls and yips as he stiffly gathered up Kakashi's discarded clothes, folding them and stowing them in a hollowed tree that he marked with a tag for Kakashi to find in the morning.

His half-healed injuries ached and he wearily climbed to a spot where he had stayed many times before. It had been where he had watched over the pack to make sure nothing had gone wrong with the curse-seal on Kakashi after Tsunade had tampered with it—allowing the copy-nin to retain his human form save for when it was at its strongest—the three nights when the moon was full. He had to depend on chakra to climb up into the tree as his injured leg refused to cooperate. Sighing, he settled into the broad crux where three branches diverged and leaned back against the bark.

He'd still be hurting in the morning, especially after a night spent in the elements, but at least then he'd have regained enough energy to stumble back home, shower and sleep for a few more hours. Thankfully, tomorrow was Sunday and he had nothing that couldn't wait. Too damned bad if the homework wasn't graded by Monday.

From his perch, he watched Uuhei lead Shiba on a teasing chase through the trees as the rest of the pack ran down prey. Over the past several months he'd been able to learn how to distinguish what all their varied cries meant. He'd even tried singing with them a time or two.

He flinched as a doe broke cover, the rest of the pack hot on her heels. Uuhei and Shiba broke off their game and darted in to rip at the doe's hind legs, crippling her.

The rest of the pack descended on the prey. Iruka found himself fingering the faded curse-seal on his wrist as Kakashi loped out. The gray wolf deftly avoided thrashing legs and sharp hooves to close teeth around the doe's throat and end her struggles for good. She kicked once and then lay still.

Kakashi backed away from the kill, licking his chops as the rest of the pack began their feast. He shook himself and moved a little away from where the pack was ripping at the fallen deer; stretching out on the ground and watching them silently. His silver-gray fur was bright in the pale moonlight as he lounged. He would run with the pack and hunt with them, but only rarely joined them in the feasting. He'd confided to Iruka that he couldn't stand the thought of raw meat—not after having to live on it for so very long.

Iruka watched them wistfully as, with their empty bellies sated, they either stretched out in the grass near Kakashi or surrendered to the urge to play like puppies. Uuhei bowled Buru and Pakkun over and teased them into a game of 'catch me.' Guruko took off after them as Shiba and the others lay close to the great gray wolf that was Kakashi; their sides or paws just touching.

Iruka closed his eyes, remembering his own time among them, when he had shared their den and their warmth. He missed it more than he could say.

_Kakashi had been back in his own apartment for only three days when he'd come knocking on Iruka's door in the darkest hours of the night._

"_Kakashi?"_

_The jounin had looked strange standing out there in the moonlight and it had taken Iruka a long moment to realize that he was shivering, even though the night was still fairly warm. "It's cold." He'd complained plaintively._

_It was a brisk autumn night, barely cold enough to warrant a coat, and the plaint had taken Iruka aback. He'd invited Kakashi in and made tea. They'd sat together on the couch, sipping tea and speaking pleasantly of nothing in particular. Slowly, Kakashi had relaxed and leaned into Iruka. A few moment's later, he'd been sound asleep, his nose buried in the crook of Iruka's neck._

_When Iruka had tried to move away, Kakashi had whined low in his throat and snuggled closer. It had taken Iruka a while to come to the conclusion that it was contact Kakashi was after. Among the wolves, touch was more than half their body language, and was used to comfort and soothe. Kakashi had needed the contact when he had come back after living with the pack for over a year. Iruka remembered that first night when the jounin had crawled from his futon into Iruka's bed._

_He had wondered why Kakashi hadn't sought out the pack for comfort, but that concern had faded with time and the continued presence of the jounin in his life and in his bed. It had never been a sexual thing, though Iruka would have welcomed it if it had been. It was simply comfort and warmth… the touch that Kakashi had needed._

_Several times, during his observation of Kakashi's interaction with the pack, he'd noticed how Kakashi lost himself in the immediacy of the wolf. For them there was no tomorrow, no next week. There was only the now. Iruka had never told anyone, but sometimes he longed for that place. That timeless 'now' that the wolves existed in. No worries and concerns, no regrets. He wanted after it like nothing else._

_Because if he lived in the 'now,' there would be nothing to keep him from having what he wanted… craved. But he could not. So he remained the quiet chuunin schoolteacher, trusted friend and platonic bedwarmer. And he could never give voice to just how much he __**hated**__ it._

Warm fingers touched his wrist and Kakashi looked down at him in amusement, his silver-blue eye half-lidded. "You'll get stiff sleeping in trees, Iruka."

"Is it morning?" Iruka yawned.

"Not quite. Why don't you come down and rest with the pack? We'll keep you warm."

He _should_ have said no, but… if only for a few moments, he wanted to recapture that feeling he'd had in the cave all those months ago. He let Kakashi draw him down out of the tree and into the huddle of warm, furred bodies. Iruka sighed and relaxed amidst the earthy scent of the pack, feeling Kakashi's warmth against his back. He felt those impossibly warm fingers trace the faded curse-seal on his wrist and a smile edged in bitterness curved his lips. "Is it so wrong of me to hate you for saving me from what happened to you?"

He felt Kakashi's bared lips at his nape. "Yes. Because if you hadn't managed to escape the effect, who would have brought me back to Konoha?"

"No one," Iruka confirmed wearily. "But you're needed here and I knew that. I'm just a chuunin. No one came after me, when I vanished; while they were always searching for you." He chuckled a little bitterly. "And I watch you and the pack and wish I had that freedom. I wish I had the luxury of not looking ahead, the liberty to do things I've only dreamed of. To run with them, to run with _you."_ Iruka cut himself off with a gasp.

He was tired, and let slip more than he should have. That was the only explanation he could think of for everything that had just spilled from his lips without checking with his brain first.

He tried to free himself from Kakashi's grasp, but the jounin's arms remained hard as steel around him. "Is that what you really want?" Kakashi's voice husked softly in his ear. "To run with the pack?"

It wasn't all he wanted, but he nodded wearily, ducking his head to hide the flush on his cheeks.

Those long, lean fingers tightened mercilessly on the wrist that bore the faded curse-mark. "Then run with us. Cast off the bonds on you and run with us beneath the wintering moon."

One by one, the pack around him raised their heads and howled wildly; fiercely at the night sky. The world shifted around him and suddenly he found himself on his feet… all four of them. His arms; his legs… furry and ending in splayed paws. He looked back over his shoulder and saw the plume of a tail curving high over his back. He looked back as a sharp nip got his attention. The silver-gray wolf grinned back at him and nipped his ear again, dropping his forequarters to the ground in a shameless invitation to play.

He yipped playfully and sprang away, the smaller, red-brown wolf hastily sorting out his legs and leaping to follow. They ran for the joy of running, crunching through drifts of dead leaves and playing 'catch you, catch me' amid the trees. When they had tired, they lay sprawled together in the grass, the larger pack leader resting his head across the smaller red-brown wolf's neck and shoulders. It was almost possessive and the part of him that was still self-aware and human wished that it was.

He lifted his head and licked a wet strip over the scarred eye, whining low in his throat. Teeth closed gently on his ear and then they were together, bare—human—skin pressed flush and hot hands roaming over it, seeking more contact. It should have been awkward, sprawled in the midst of a pack of intelligent wolves, but it wasn't. Hungry mouths pressed together, teeth clashing and tongues dueling. Then the hungry mouth wandered elsewhere and he arched up, fingers scoring grooves in the earth beneath him.

It should have been painful as they came together, thrusting desperately against each other, but they reached a place of sheer pleasure where such minor things as discomfort vanished, awash in a tide of surging pleasure so great he thought he might die of it.

Iruka's eyes snapped open with a gasp. Bark bit into his back and his clothes were damp with dew that was perilously close to becoming frost. He couldn't help a small, pitiful moan as he realized that it had all been a dream. Always a dream. He looked down at Kakashi and the pack, still lounging in the moonlight. From the position of the moon it was still hours until dawn. Iruka shivered, the cold lancing through his clothes.

The hell with it. He'd go down and stay with the pack. They had warm fur, where he had only the sweats he'd been wearing when he'd checked himself out of the hospital barely an hour after they had checked him in. Sighing, he lowered himself out of the crook of the tree. He felt the crack before he heard it. The branch beneath his foot gave way. He scrabbled for a hold, but his tired and injured body betrayed him and he missed his grip. His head thunked solidly on a branch and the world went dark, shot through with red. He never even felt it when he hit the ground.

* * *

Kakashi and the pack lifted their head at the startled cry followed by the heavy thump of a body hitting the ground. Kakashi rose to his feet and trotted toward the sounds, the pack following. _Iruka!_

Whining softly, Kakashi nudged the unresponsive form lying limp on the grass. Iruka didn't move. The scent of his blood was thick in the air and Uuhei whined deep in her throat, pawing at a spot where crimson had stained his gray sweats black. She nudged Iruka and got a feeble moan in response.

Kakashi growled softly and closed his teeth gently around Iruka's arm. Uuhei was quick to catch on and she caught his other arm in the same manner, straining to lift his deadweight. Buru lowered himself to the ground and together, they managed to heave the chuunin up and drape his unresponsive form over the huge black wolf's shoulders. Buru heaved himself to his feet, Kakashi and Uuhei staying close to be sure that Iruka did not slip off.

Shiba took Kakashi's place at Buru's side and Kakashi hurried toward the barrier with a nervous whine. They moved as swiftly as they dared without unseating Buru's unconscious passenger. Kakashi paused to paw at the barrier stone, hoping that his chakra would be enough to unlock it while he was trapped in this form. The barrier fizzled out and as one, the pack hurried toward the village.

They swept past the gate guards before the two men could do more than flinch. They would sound the alarm, though, and Kakashi reasoned that would be a good thing. They had to get Iruka help and fast!

Tsunade was jolted out of sleep by the howls of wolves. She snatched a robe and hurried out onto the balcony. Boar, the ANBU stationed there, was peering down into the darkness at the foot of the tower. She hurried to his side and looked down. She recognized the silver-furred pack leader immediately. "Crap!"

She vaulted over the railing, dropping several stories straight down before she used chakra to slow her fall and soften the impact. She heard Boar leaping to catch up with her, but her attention wasn't on the ANBU. "Kakashi!"

The gray wolf whined and shoved his head into her hand. He butted his huge head into her, shoving her into the midst of the pack. Boar had several kunai out and looked like he was ready to wade in to her aid, but she forestalled him with a raised hand. "Easy. I'm in no danger." Kakashi nudged her again, a growling whine emerging from his throat. Tsunade cursed as she saw who he was urging her toward. "Shit! Boar, run ahead to the hospital, tell them I need an operating theater prepped at once. Then go get Ibiki! Move it!"

The ANBU was gone even as she forced healing chakra into the limp body of the teacher draped over the largest wolf's back.

It was near dawn when Tsunade staggered out of surgery, leaning heavily on the wall. She made no pretenses about how much of her strength had gone into healing the chuunin. But even as weary as she was, she summoned up a grin at the sight of a pack of wolves pacing nervously in one of the waiting areas. Kakashi spotted her and suddenly she was surrounded by a sea of fur.

Sighing, she rested a hand on Kakashi's silver-furred head. "I'm not sure how much you understand while in this form, but if we can keep the idiot confined to his bed for a few days, he'll be fine. He checked out of here before he could even be fully healed earlier, and he managed to do himself some more damage between then and when you brought him to me. I wish you could tell me what happened."

But the wolf's attention was no longer on her. A low whine rumbled in his throat and she turned to see two of her medics moving Iruka to a room to recover. She rested her hand on Kakashi's furred shoulder and could feel the tension in his frame. "It will be dawn soon. You can see him then. Now, go on. You're scaring my hospital staff."

Kakashi whined and looked up at her with a pale eye. "Relax. He'll be fine now. Go on. You can come back as soon as you're able."

One side of the wolf's mouth lifted in an expression she could have sworn was a sly smile. He plonked his furry butt down and waved his tail at her.

Tsunade laughed until she was out of breath. "Okay, now I'm certain you understand every word I'm saying." She chuckled. "If you want to be here naked and unmasked when he wakes up or when one of the nurses comes to check on him…"

Kakashi let out a low growl and looked seriously disgruntled. At last, he slunk out, followed by the rest of the pack. Tsunade smiled after him and wondered if she had the energy to get back home. She blinked as Boar offered her an arm and accepted the help. As they left the hospital she looked after the wolves and thought it was about time Sakumo's brat had found something else to care about.

After he had returned to his human form, Kakashi went home and showered and changed before heading to the hospital. The pack, now back in their less obtrusive dog forms, watched him with worried eyes and would have followed him to the hospital if he hadn't reassured them that Iruka would be fine.

After a brief confrontation with one of the desk nurses during which she insisted he wait for normal visiting hours and he insisted that he was not going anywhere and she was welcome to see how many people it would take to actually remove him (and coincidentally, how many of them would wind up in hospital beds by the time he was done), he was allowed into Iruka's room.

Iruka looked pale and thin under the blankets and the bruising on his face from his previous injuries stood out starkly on his bloodless skin. Kakashi sniffed at the smell of sterile air, drying blood and antiseptics. He tugged his mask down and pressed his nose against Iruka's neck, breathing in the underlying scent that was the chuunin's alone. The scent that marked him as pack. Careful to avoid the IV, Kakashi climbed onto the narrow bed and settled Iruka against his chest, thinking that the presence of part of his pack would help him.

It seemed to work, because Iruka's labored breathing eased and his heartbeat slowed from a frantic thundering to a steady drumming. Kakashi rested his head on the top of Iruka's, remembering how far his humanity had slipped away until the night he and the pack had come across the badly-injured chuunin. He had recognized his scent and it had awakened memories of his home, his students… his village.

The presence of the man had given him the presence of mind to fight the curse-seal again. He had tried when the damned thing had first been put on him, but after his escape and the fever that nearly killed him, he had stopped fighting, stopped making the effort to revert to human.

Iruka did not wake that day, though a nurse had come in several times to check on him. After the first few attempts to remove him had been unsuccessful, one of them had spoken to Tsunade. She had come in, checked Iruka, and told them to leave him the hell alone. No more attempts had been made after that.

Kakashi looked out the window at the darkening sky and growled low in his throat. Another two nights before the full moon was gone. Sighing, he closed the door and swiftly stripped out of his clothes. He folded them and put them in the small wardrobe before going to the window to watch the moon rise. He felt the moonlight wash over him and the strange feel of his body reshaping itself. It didn't hurt anymore, though the first couple of times when they had tested the effectiveness of the poison on him had been agonizing. Shaking himself, he leapt back up onto the bed and curled up beside Iruka, his furred back resting against the chuunin's thigh and hip.

An hour later he lifted his head with a growl as a nurse came in. She shrieked and fled. Kakashi sneezed and shook his head, lowering it to rest on his paws. Sure enough, twenty minutes later, Tsunade appeared, accompanied by the frightened nurse. The Hokage snorted and folded her arms. "I said you could stay here with him, but if you persist in getting in the way of my staff performing their duties, I will have you removed. Do I make myself clear?"

Kakashi yawned, unimpressed.

Tsunade's arm shot out and she had him by the scruff of the neck, holding him dangling in the air. He struggled at first, but quickly saw how ineffective it was and hung resentfully from her powerful grip, glaring. Tsunade smiled, but the wolf recognized it for the baring of teeth that it was. She let him down and he rolled on his back, displaying his throat.

Her laugh startled him. "At least the wolf part of you recognizes just who is the alpha around here." She knelt beside him and lifted his chin. "I understand the need to protect him, but don't interfere with the nurses. He needs them to treat him. Understand?"

Kakashi whined and nodded slowly. Tsunade patted his head. "Now, let Chei-san do what she came here to do and you can stay."

He heaved a sigh and watched the nervous medic anxiously as she tended to Iruka. When she was done, he leapt back up onto the bed and lay beside Iruka, whining softly.

Tsunade smiled down at him. "With luck, he should wake tomorrow." She caught his chin again. "You can talk to him then. Now stop frightening my nurses. I don't want to be called back here every couple of hours."

She left and Kakashi settled down to wait. Iruka stirred sleepily once. His hand quested across the bedcovers until it brushed Kakashi's fur and then he settled, fingers resting on Kakashi's ruff. Kakashi shifted and slid his head under the hand, feeling the body beside him relax.

Kakashi napped fitfully throughout the night, waking every time a nurse came in or Iruka stirred slightly. He managed to refrain from doing anything more than the occasional ill-tempered growl. It kept most of them from lingering too long. He was a little surprised when one of them actually growled back at him and went on about her duties, ignoring him. Afterwards the brunette was the only one who came to check on Iruka. She even dared to reach over and tweak his ear once. He growled at her and she just grinned.

He dragged himself out of bed as dawn brightened the sky and redressed before sleepily sliding back in to bed and cradling Iruka against his chest. He dozed again, soothed by Iruka's nearness.

He snapped awake as Iruka's stirrings took on the more restless movements of a sleeper struggling to emerge from a dream. Dazed brown eyes opened slowly and blinked several times, as if Iruka were trying to reconcile what he was seeing with his version of reality.

"K-Kakashi…?" Iruka managed, his voice raspy. Kakashi got him some water from the pitcher and steadied his hands on the cup. "W-what are you doing here?" Iruka asked after he had sipped at the water.

"Do you remember what happened?" Kakashi asked. To his surprise, Iruka turned bright red and hunched his shoulders.

"Not much."

Kakashi could smell the lie, but let it pass. "You fell and injured yourself pretty badly on the way down. We brought you to Tsunade. You're in the hospital."

Iruka rubbed his temples. "I'm not even going to ask how a pack of wolves managed to get me to the Hokage tower. It would just make my headache worse. How come you're in my hospital room?"

Kakashi was perplexed. "Why wouldn't I be here?"

Iruka sighed and tried to shift out of his hold. Kakashi growled low in his throat. "You're supposed to be resting. Lay still."

Iruka glared at him, his cheeks red. "Let go of me."

"No."

Iruka stilled, but his red-faced glare didn't lessen. "Why not?"

Kakashi buried his masked nose in the crook of Iruka's neck, ignoring the startled squeak the chuunin made. He inhaled Iruka's spicy, familiar scent. "Because you're pack, and pack means to be together. Pack protects and helps an injured member, until they are strong again."

Iruka shivered all over and a new smell tainted his scent. "I'm not pack, Kakashi. I'm just a human." Kakashi mulled over the new smells. Iruka smelled of fear and longing and… _desire?_

Kakashi sneezed against his neck and Iruka emitted a startled sound, something between a yip of surprise and an exclamation of dismay. "Kakashi!"

Kakashi shook his head and pulled back a little to regard Iruka. "Sorry. The wolf instincts are strong right now."

Iruka sighed, his blush lessening, though his scent was still a confused jumble. "I know. How long have I been out?"

"All day and night since you fell."

Iruka looked surprised. "That long?"

"Tsunade-sama says that your injuries from you mission were bad enough, but then you went and made them worse. She had you in surgery for a long time. It was nearly dawn before she was done."

Iruka flushed red again. "Ahh. Sorry to have worried you, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi growled at the honorific. Iruka was trying to distance himself, and the wolf in him didn't like it at all. _"Kakashi."_ He rumbled. "You're part of my pack, how could I not worry?"

Iruka laughed sadly. "No I'm not. I'm not a wolf."

Kakashi blinked, startled. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"How can a chuunin schoolteacher be part of a pack of wolves? You and the others, you belong to a world I don't know, don't understand and can't be a part of." Iruka bit out angrily.

Kakashi didn't understand his anger. "What does it matter? You _are_ pack; you have been since we found you that day in the woods. What does it matter that you run on two legs and not four?" Kakashi snapped, more than a little irritated by the way Iruka was acting. "You can still run."

Iruka growled under his breath. "You _still _don't understand!"

"_What_ don't I understand?"

Iruka snarled and ripped down Kakashi's mask. His brown eyes were a little feral. _"This!"_ He hissed as he crushed his mouth against Kakashi's. The kiss was brutal, all teeth and tongue, and as sweet-tasting as water in the sands of Suna.

Kakashi growled softly under his breath and cupped Iruka's cheeks, pulling back just enough to look the chuunin in the eye. He smiled. "Maybe it's you who doesn't understand. Did you think I turned up at your apartment door all those times, just because I was cold?"

He leaned forward and initiated another breath-stealing, mind-numbing kiss. Iruka moaned and leaned into the kiss, fingers gripping hard on Kakashi's shoulders.

Kakashi trailed his lips down the column of Iruka's neck to the juncture where it met his shoulder. He bit down hard, breaking skin and tasting the salt-tang of Iruka's blood. Iruka made a pained sound and flinched. But he relaxed again as Kakashi gently soothed the bite with tender kisses and wet swipes of his tongue. "Mine…" He growled softly.

Iruka melted into his hold.

There was a clatter and they both looked over at the door, where the brunette nurse had dropped the tray she was carrying. Her cheeks were bright-red but she stared at them dreamily.

Iruka turned a shade of red to rival hers and buried his face in Kakashi's shoulder.

Kakashi snorted a laugh. "Leave if you don't want _me _tweaking _your_ ear this time." He informed her.

_

* * *

_

_Four Months Later_

Iruka sighed as he gazed down at the mess his lover and the pack had left on the floor of the new apartment they now shared. Books and scrolls and the occasional well chewed bone. It looked like Kakashi had been trying to teach them to read again. From the bones, he'd had to bribe them. Some of them took to it like they were born readers, but getting Guruko or Urushi to sit still long enough was a major accomplishment.

Iruka smiled fondly as he began to pick up the mess. Not that he minded, because the pack came to him with questions about what they had read. He liked teaching them and had more success than his lover. Kakashi rapidly ran out of patience. Even now he could hear the barks and yaps that indicated they were playing in the grassy field behind the building.

He paused in picking up to gaze at the calendar. Today's date and the next two were marked out in blue highlighter. He glanced at the clock. He should have just enough time to get dinner ready so they could eat before the sun set. He hummed as he started preparations for dinner. Tonight he was running with his pack and he'd have it no other way.

_

* * *

_

_A/N: The nurse might remind you of someone, and if she doesn't you obviously don't know my beta very well. Her name is Mika (beautiful fragrance) and she is JUST like the woman she's based on._


End file.
